DISCLAIMER: I do not own the BioShock franchise (wish I did) and I disclaim any references and things I use from the franchise. Other than that, everything else is mine.

Enjoy my prequel sequel, who the hell knows what to call it? Enjoy


BioShock: Ethereal

Chapter 1: Sink or swim


"You've come all this way for retribution, yet you don't even know why. I suppose that's only the nature, of a man entitled to the sweat of his brow."

- Godric Helmsley, 1956


"Mr. Sinclair will be with you shortly." said the receptionist, halfheartedly, not even bothering to look up at Harvey. She was too busy smearing lipstick on her peachy white face.

"Where does he finds these broads?" Harvey laughed with himself. He turned around and walked away from the reception desk towards a sitting area and stopped before the glass wall. He stared blankly out into the city.

"What brings a good-looking lady, like yourself, to Rapture?" He said loudly, making sure the receptionist could hear him well enough, "Shitty place to call home if you ask me." He then pulled out a carton of cigarettes, a box of matches, and proceeded to casually have himself a smoke.

"There's no smoking in here, sir." the receptionist said. Harvey turned around, cigarette between his teeth. He took it out, then exhaled slowly,

"Maybe if your boss didn't take his sweet ass time, I wouldn't have to bother you Miss. But then again, that ash tray on your desk was singing my favorite tune."

The receptionist glared at Harvey, annoyed she was caught in her lie. She then shook her head and returned to work. Harvey smiled and went back to staring out the window.

Harvey Steel wasn't a Rapture man, the water made him feel uncomfortable. There was something too unpleasantly pleasant about Rapture that always put him on edge. The whole damn city was full of crazy bastards. But Harvey went where Ryan told him to go, for now. Harvey wore grey striped dress pants, black dress shoes, a white button up (sleeves always rolled up) with a grey tie, and his brown leather jacket (with his holster vest on underneath it).

"Nothing quite like it, huh?" came a voice from behind Harvey. Harvey turned around to find one Mr. Augustus Sinclair walking up to him.

"Mr. Sinclair." Harvey said.

"Aw come on now," Sinclair said warmly, "Call me Augustus. Let's not get to formal just yet, makes me all itchy."

Harvey didn't respond.

"Why don't we take this one into my office kid?"

Harvey nodded.

Sinclair led Harvey through the doors to his office. It was filled to the brim with Sinclair memorabilia and his desk overflowed with Plasmids and papers. Sinclair took a seat behind his desk and beckoned Harvey to take a seat.

"Talk about self-admiration." Harvey said to himself as he took a seat, looking at a picture of a proud, much younger, Sinclair on the desk.

"To what do I owe the pleasure, Mr. Steel?" Sinclair asked.

"I'm here on behalf of Mr. Ryan." Harvey began, "He wanted to come himself, but couldn't afford to get away."

"Man's got a city to run." Sinclair responded, "If you can call it that. More like crawling from where I'm sitting, but I trust you aint here to make small talk. So what is it, kid?"

Harvey leaned forward and put his hands on his knees,

"I'm not gonna sugarcoat it Mr. Sinclair, Mr. Ryan isn't happy with you and whatever it is you suggest you're doing in that hole of yours. You have patients running a muck in the streets. Plasmid abuse well past protocol and far beyond containment. Just what the hell are you doing about it?"

Sinclair licked his lips then snappishly replied, "Andrew needs to let me to my job. I don't see HIM doing anything about the problem HE created. Do you realize how difficult it is to stabilize the Plasmid specifications he wants? All while maintaining control over those lunatics Andrew dumped on my doorstep? Do You?"

Harvey didn't respond.

"I didn't think so." Sinclair followed up, "But I assure you, Mr. Ryan has nothing to worry about."

"The splicers are still getting worse, and Mrs. Lamb is becoming an issue herself." Harvey stated.

"Mrs. Lamb you say? Her self-proclaimed reign is coming to an end here in Rapture. As for the splicers, well... A new Plasmid I'm testing should take care of them too."

"Times a tick'n Mr. Sinclair." Harvey said as he stood up, "This city goes to shit, Mr. Ryan will make sure a bullet makes a cozy home right between your eyes." He finished as he made an air gun with his fingers and pointed it at Mr. Sinclair.

Sinclair bit his tongue, spitefully, "You've got a lot of nerve threatening a man in his own home, I admire it, but it'll get you killed none the less." Sinclair said as he lit a cigar, "I'll absolve Mr. Ryan's problems, just as I always have. Don't you or Mr. Ryan go pointing fingers till it's all said and done."

"I hope so... for your sake." Harvey said, as he turned and started to walk away, "Because it'll be me that puts that bullet in ya, and I'm not very familiar with the term mercy."


Harvey left Sinclair's building and got on the Rapture Metro. He was alone and the only sound was soft jazz from the metro speakers. Just then a voice came over the speaker,

"Harvey listen up, meet me at the Kashmir. I've got something for ya, courtesy of Mr. Ryan."

The voice cut out and the jazz resumed.

"Richard? What the hell does that bastard want?" Harvey asked himself.

Harvey took the metro to the Atrium and found his way over to the Kashmir restaurant. He wasn't fond of the Kashmir, but it was well enough. It didn't take him long to find Richard. Richard was an average sized man and had red hair. He always wore the same maroon suit and black fedora, and he was always drunk. So naturally, Harvey walked downstairs to the cocktail lounge and found Richard siting at a booth, already drinking.

"Harvey! "The drunk Richard said, "Have a seat, take your shoes off, and order a drink." Richard beckoned to a waitress and a blonde girl came over to the table,

"Can I get you gentlemen something to drink?" she asked, pleasantly.

"Triple rye for me, sugar." He said raising his eyebrows at the young girl, "Don't be stingy on that ice now, you hear?" She smiled and turned towards Harvey,

"For you, sir?" she asked.

"Water with lemon." Harvey responded, as he took off his jacket and sat down.

Richard laughed and spoke up to the waitress, "Don't listen to him, He'll have a single malt scotch."

"The water's fine." Harvey said as the waitress walked away, "And don't forget the lemon!" he shouted.

"What's wrong with you?" asked Richard.

"What's this about having something for me?" replied Harvey.

"Straight to business then." Laughed Richard, "You first. How'd the meeting with the cowboy ass clown go?"

"He's dealing with it. Mrs. Lamb, the splicers, says he has it all under control." Harvey replied, "But I don't think he knows what the hell he's doing anymore. Might have to follow up on that one."

Richard nodded, "I'll let Mr. Ryan know we gotta tighten the leash up."

The waitress came back with their drinks. Harvey took a sip of his water then pulled out a smoke.

"Your turn." Harvey said to Richard who had already put the first drink to bed.

"Like I said," Richard Began, "Mr. Ryan has something for you, a job offer. I think you'll find this one to be much more fulfilling."

"That would be a first." Said Harvey, sarcastically.

"Look, wise guy," Richard started, "Andrew knows you've been poking around the rundown Bathysphere's stations, buy'n up parts and stuff. You wanna leave or somethin? Sure looks that way to Mr. Ryan."

"I don't have to listen to this." Harvey said, about to get up, but he was stopped.

"Relax." Richard said calmly, "Mr. Ryan has done good by you, by all of us. You just wanna give that all up? Fine by me, but have you forgotten the mess he got you out of back in New York?"

Harvey turned and looked out the window, "I've paid for MY sins. I've spent seven god forsaken years at the bottom of the sea, doing all of his dirty work, regretting every minute of it. I'm done with him and I'm done with this place."

"Mr. Ryan acknowledges all the work you've done for him, that's why he's offering you this job, this last job. This is your way out on good terms, don't you want your freedom to be justified." Richard said.

Harvey glared at Richard, "I don't owe that man shit, and I've done my time down in this shithole of a city. I AM a free man."

"Then prove it, finish what you started." Richard replied, more stern than before.

Harvey stared at Richard for a moment, wanting to leave but then said,

"What's the job?"

Richard smiled and took a sip from his glass before speaking, "Have you ever heard of Lunopolis?" he asked.

"The moon city?" Harvey laughed, "Yea sure, in children's stories."

"What if I told you it was a real place?" Richard replied.

"I'd tell you to see a doctor." Harvey said.

Richard smiled, "It is real."

"It's a bunch of horseshit." Harvey laughed, "It was the media, and the freaking government trying to cover of up disappearances they wanted wiped off the grid."

"Just like the Columbia cover-up, right?" Richard asked.

Harvey stopped laughing, "That's different and you know it. People saw Columbia, people have been there and back and documented proof of its existence. Columbia's up there, but it aint out there if you follow me."

Richard shrugged, "I'm not one to argue with Mr. Ryan on what he tells me. More so on what he asks me to do." Richard then pulled out a briefcase from under the table and slid it across the table to Harvey.

"What's this?" Harvey asked, suspiciously.

"Open it." Richard said.

Harvey pulled the briefcase in close, unlatched the two clamps, and opened it. It was filled to the top with documents. He pulled out the one on top. It appeared to be a picture ad. There was a grand city, and it was under a large glass dome. The planet earth could be seen in the far background. A blonde haired women was in the upper right hand corner, pointing at earth and smiling. She was wearing some sort of white bulky suit and had a glass bowl over her head. There was a caption next to her. Harvey read it aloud.


"Why live there when perfection lies just beyond the sky?"

"Lunopolis: A home among the stars"


Harvey concluded, "Is this some kind of joke?" he asked.

"Not at all." Richard replied.

"Well then I think you and Mr. Ryan can go fuck yourselves. I can find my own way out of Rapture, goodbye Richard." Harvey said as he got up and began to walk away.

"Mr. Ryan is offering two hundred grand," Richard spoke out to Harvey, "And all you gotta do is deliver this briefcase to a contact in New York."

Harvey stopped in his tracks. He gritted his teeth, "Come on, and just walk away already. You know nothing ever goes as planned with Mr. Ryan." He said to himself, but he couldn't resist. He turned around and went back to Richards's booth.

"Two hundred G's?" Harvey asked.

"American too." Richard smiled, "I thought that might inspire you."

"How do I know Mr. Ryan can deliver?" Asked Harvey.

"Come on Harvey," Richard laughed, "Mr. Ryan always delivers."

"Who's this "contact" I'm delivering to?" Harvey asked.

"All the information you need is in the briefcase. You can go through it on your way up, alright?" Richard replied.

"I have to leave today?" Harvey asked.

"Within the hour. Bathysphere Station." Richard replied.

Harvey didn't respond.

"I'll take your silence as your acceptance." Richard said as he pulled out another briefcase. He opened it and brought out a piece of paper and pen,

"I don't have to explain how this works, do I?" Richard asked, rhetorically.

"I'm not signing a contract." Harvey refused.

"It's strictly for transaction purposes," Richard stated, "Besides, you know Mr. Ryan likes things…orderly, to say the least. Consider it your letter of resignation." Richard smiled.

Harvey snatched up the paper and read it carefully.

"Enjoying yourself, are you?" sarcastically asked Richard.

Harvey grunted, "I guess it's clean enough." He said and picked up the pen. Richard spoke up before he did sign it.

"Just so we're clear," he said, "Once you leave Rapture, you aint ever coming back. The isolation is permanent, for you at least."

"Do I look like I'd want to come back to this fucking place?" laughed Harvey, as he signed the contract with ease.

"Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow," began Richard, as he took a large gulp from his drink, "Hell maybe not in a hundred fucking years. But one day, I swear, you'll be staring down the barrel of a gun, asking yourself "Why didn't I just listen to my dear friend Richard, and stay in that wonderful city of Rapture?" But by then it'll be too late, won't it?" Richard concluded.

"We're not friends, and I'll never wish I was back in here." Harvey replied, "And I don't plan on looking down the barrel of a gun anytime soon."

"Oh, come on now," Richard pleaded, "Do you really think you can just give up on a life you've always known, to lead a, a "normal" one? Normal to you will always be another gun in your hand, shooting some poor bastard up for some other wealthy pig. You leading a normal life is as likely as me quitting the bottle. It's a decent thought, really, but it'll never happen. You either sink to the bottom or swim to the bitter end Harvey boy, and we both know... you're a swimmer."

Richard laughed hysterically at his own comment and continued to drink.

"You're a drunk" Harvey said, then picked up the briefcase and turned around to leave, "And you're wrong about me!" Harvey shouted over his shoulder as he left the restaurant.

"We'll see about that!" Richard shouted back, still laughing uncontrollably.


Harvey walked out of the Kashmir and into the Atrium. He thought about going to collect his belongings, but there was nothing of value so he turned towards the tunnel that would take him to the Bathysphere Station, and his freedom.

The tunnel was quite, no one had used the Bathysphere's in a long time. Not since the lock down.

"Those fucking crazy bastards." Harvey said to himself, shaking his head, "All I have to do is get to New York and I'm done."

He reached the end of the tunnel and found himself in the Bathysphere lounge, also dead quite. Suddenly, a voice came from the entrance to one of the Bathysphere's.

"I thought I might catch you before you left." The voice said.

Harvey walked over and saw the man, "I thought I'd seen your bald head for the last time, Fontaine."

The man, Fontaine laughed, "You always were my favorite of Ryan's boys."

"You falling in love with me Frank." Said Harvey, sarcastically.

Fontaine smiled.

"Why are you here?" asked Harvey.

"The question is why are you?" Fontaine replied.

Harvey didn't know how to respond, he then said, "I'm getting the fuck out of this place."

"Indeed." Fontaine said, "But surely Ryan's isn't letting his best man go so easily, is he? What was the price for your freedom? Perhaps it involves that briefcase you're holding?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." said Harvey.

"Don't play coy," Fontaine said, "I know all about the little rally going down. Ryan thinks he's so smart. But for all his attributes, I wouldn't accuse him of cleverness. Who do you think tipped him off about what's in that briefcase?"

"What do you want?" asked Harvey.

"A little parlay, some small talk before you scurry." Said Fontaine, "Don't let yourself get sucked up into the shit storm Ryan's been brewing up there, he's bad for business, I've told everyone that but they don't listen. That man has an agenda, and you are far from done working for him my dear boy. But when you do figure out what's going on and get caught up in it all, of course in getting there I mean, find a man named Christopher Taft. He's an old friend of mine, of a sort. I need you to do something for me, he'll help you out."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Harvey asked.

"I think you'll find out soon enough, dear boy." Fontaine laughed as he opened the Bathysphere for Harvey, "I pay much more handsomely than that fool Ryan."

Harvey looked at Fontaine suspiciously then got into the Bathysphere. Before Fontaine closed it up he said,

"And do tell Mr. Helmsley when you see him, that he owes me. He owes Frank Fontaine"

Harvey wanted to speak up but Fontaine shut the Bathysphere before he could. The Bathysphere started up and a light rag-time tune began to play overhead. The sphere sealed tight and began to un-dock. As the sphere pulled away from the station, Fontaine waived ominously at Harvey. Harvey shook his head and took a seat. He then opened up the briefcase. He pulled out the ad and turned it around, there was some writing on it.

"Michael Roland, 1050 Rome St. New York, New York." He said out loud,

"Sounds easy enough." He said as he turned the paper back over.

"Lunopolis, home among the stars." He laughed to himself.


(Updated from previous)

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